which the Jews were in the habit of listening to when they attended their synagogues-if we desire to realise the kind of moral and religious atmosphere into which the Christian religion was born, a brief comparison of some sentences out of the Talmud, with a few well-remembered sayings of Jesus Christ, will show us more clearly than anything else the exact points of contact or identity between Jewish and Christian morality. I read the following extracts, translated from the Talmud by Mr. Deutsch, in the 'Quarterly Review' of October 1867; and as I proceed, I will recall to your minds words of Christ, not always exactly corresponding to the Talmud quotations, but having the same tone and general ring about them :

'Be thou the cursed, not he who curses. Be of them that are persecuted, not of them that persecute.' 'Bless them that curse you,' Matt. v. 44. 'Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you,' Matt. v. II. 'There was a king who bade all his servants to a great repast, but did not indicate the hour. Some went home and put on their best garments, and stood at the door of the palace; others said, There is ample time, the king will let us know beforehand. But the king summoned them of a sudden, and those that came in their best garments were well received, but the foolish ones who came in their slovenliness were turned away in disgrace. Repent to-day, lest to-morrow ye may be summoned.' Of how many different fragments of Christ's words are we here reminded, whilst the general method and even the moral law entirely reminds

us of One who, without a parable, taught not the people. The king who makes a feast, Matt. xxii. 2. The general negligence of those invited, v. 5. The servants who said on another occasion, not 'There is ample time,' but 'My Lord delayeth His coming,' Matt. xxiv. 48. The people who wore not 'best garments' at the feast, but 'wedding garments;' those who came not in their slovenliness,' but not having on a wedding garment,' Matt. xxii. 11. The foolish virgins who were surprised at the sudden coming of the Bridegroom, Matt. vii. 26; the wicked servant who knew not at what hour his Lord would come, Matt. xxiv. 50; the good man of the house who knew not the hour when the thief would come, xxiv. 43. These are sufficient to show the essentially popular nature of this parabolic device, or story of a sudden surprise common to the Talmud and the teaching of Christ. Lastly, the turning away in disgrace of those who were unfit for the feast, or unprepared, was the usual conclusion to what we may call the 'Surprise Parables.' The foolish virgins found themselves in the darkness, the doors being closed upon them; the wicked servant was cut asunder on the return of His Lord. The faithless keepers of the vineyard were miserably destroyed, the man without the wedding garment was bound hand and foot and cast into outer darkness, and so forth. And the concluding moral 'Repent ye to-day, lest to-morrow ye may be summoned,' has its parallel in, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,' Matt, iv, 17; 'Watch, therefore, for ye know not at what hour your Lord doth come,' Matt. xxii. 42.

In the Talmud, again, we read, ‘Even the righteous shall not attain to so high a place in heaven as the truly repentant;' reminding us of ‘Likewise I say unto you, that joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety-nine just persons that need no repentance,' Luke xv. 7. The Talmud says, ‘We, if we are called the servants of God, are also called His children.' Christ says, 'Henceforth I call you not servants; but I have called you friends,' John xv. 15; 'Blessed are the peace-makers, for they shall be called the children of God,' Matt. v. 9.

The Talmud says, 'He who humbleth himself shall be exalted, and he that exalteth himself shall be abased.' Christ says, Luke xiv., 'Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.' It is unnecessary to match the following with any one or more sentences from the Gospels. 'Whosoever does not persecute them that persecute him; whosoever takes an offence in silence; he who does good because of love; he who is cheerful under his sufferings; they are the friends of God, of them the Scripture says, " And they shall shine forth as does the sun at noonday."' Again, 'The day is short and the work is great, but the labourers are idle, though the reward be great and the master of the work presses. It is not incumbent upon thee to complete the work; but thou must not therefore cease from it. If thou hast worked much, great shall be thy reward; for the master who employed thee is faithful in his payment; but know that the true reward is not of this world.'

Is it possible-without insisting on any rigid connection between the utterances-not to be reminded of Christ's words? Matt. ix. 37, 38, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest that He would send forth labourers into his harvest;' John ix. 4, 'The night cometh when no man can work,' and 'my kingdom is not of this world.'

42. Now, what do I infer from this? That Jesus Christ borrowed from the Talmud? Certainly. Need we be alarmed to confess it? Does it detract from the divinity of his mission as one who came to reveal God to man, to represent man to God? Does it detract from His originality, as that originality has been explained and set forth in my last discourse? Observe the divine naturalness and simplicity of the method employed.

Christ taught the people as the people could alone be taught, as they were accustomed to be taught. He told them things with which they were already familiar. His sermons were something like the sermons of the scribes, and yet different. The people noticed the difference, but naturally enough called Jesus Rabbi. As a teacher He seemed to be merely a very gifted and original commentator on the law-a Talmudical doctor. Not only His images and metaphors were all familiar to them, but the very terms which we are in the habit of regarding as exclusively Christian. It is a great mistake to suppose that the words Baptism, Regeneration, Kingdom of Heaven, Kingdom of God, Son of God, and Son of Man, were peculiar to Christianity. They

were all in vogue at the time of Christ's coming, and He took them bodily and poured a new spirit into them, gave them sometimes also a new body, transfigured them, and moulded them into the unity of teaching which we call Christian truth.

43. Now, to go one step further. Having understood, I hope, that there was a very advanced morality at the time when Jesus Christ came into the world, we have once more to ask, What is Christian morality? What is that which separates it from the Talmud and inspires it with a life and mission for all time? I shall find in the Sermon on the Mount the kernel of Christian ethics, and I will ask, what is the distinguishing character of that sermon? I reply, an enthusiasm of love. It is not the law, although the law is fulfilled; it is not only the sober duty of doing right, but it is something which burns like a fire, which comes forth with a cry of pain and passionate desire; it is, in one word, a 'hungering and thirsting after righteousness.' Nowhere do I find the moral law impregnated with the enthusiasm of a life as Jesus Christ has impregnated it. It is love of righteousness first, and love of righteousness second; not that other things are forgotten, are left out of the Christian scheme; but the spiritual order of arrangement is different from the natural order, which reasons from earth to heaven, for this order reasons from heaven to earth. 'Seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven, and all these things shall be added unto you.' It is not that we do not want the senses, the intellect, 'All things are ours ;'